AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She scoffed and grabbed my right arm, wrenching it behind my back. She closed a silver bracelet a little too tightly around my wrist, and repeated the process with my left hand, snarling in my ear. “I know exactly who you are, Rebekah, and you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. I know you can afford an attorney so please, oh please, resist arrest. Give me a reason to use force.”
“You can’t possibly still be mad about Zane.” I rolled my eyes. “He was a dirty cop. I did you a favor!”
“A favor?” She spun me around. Her eyebrows lifted to her hairline. “You got my partner thrown in jail.”
“He was extorting half the restaurants in the Quarter for protection money!”
“Uh, Davis, you know this woman?” the male cop asked, still hidden behind the beam of his flashlight.
Natalie glared at me. “I’ve arrested her a dozen times.”
“Hazzard of the job.” I sneered at him. “I’m guessing you’re Nat’s new partner. Mind lowering your flashlight? I’m already seeing stars.”
The light clicked off, and he cleared his throat. “It’s Officer Gates to you.”
“Nice to meet you. I’d shake your hand, but I’m a little restrained at the moment,” I said, wiggling my fingers behind my back.
Gates smiled. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you too, but there’s a dead body at your feet.”
“It looks like we’ve got some babysitting to do, Gates. Call in the body,” Natalie said.
He nodded and started talking into his radio. Dispatch responded, and Natalie towed me away from the square to the bench built into the side of my family’s crypt. I started to sit, but she jerked me upright by the arm.
“You know I’ve gotta pat you down,” she said. “I’m guessing you still keep that baton in your boot. Got any other weapons I should know about?”
I held out my right foot. “My baton is where it always is, and you know I don’t like guns.”
“What about knives or needles?”
My jaw dropped. “I’m not a drug addict, thank you very much.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” she said, crouching to pull the baton from my boot. “Done any magic lately? Pulled any rabbits out of your hat?”
I snorted once and looked away. Only a handful of cops knew the truth about my abilities, and Natalie wasn’t one of them. She was a skeptic, and like most of the police force, she considered me either delusional or a fraud. If she only knew what really went on in her city.
Baton in hand, she pushed me down on the bench. “So, why’d you kill her?”
I glared at her. The stone beneath me felt like ice, still wet from the recent rain. “I didn’t.”
“Then what are you doing here? What were you doing to her body?”
“I wasn’t doing anything,” I said, through my teeth. “I got a call from your victim over there. She begged me to meet her here. Said it was a matter of life and death. I saw her car outside, and the gate was closed. So, I jumped the wall and found her like that. I was reaching to check her pulse when you surprised me.”
Natalie glanced at her partner. “Watch her, I’ve gotta make a call.”
“What?” My heart leapt into my throat. “Why do you have to make a call?”
“Be quiet,” Natalie snapped as she walked away.
“Nat, please don’t call him. Please don’t—” I rose from the bench, intent on following her.
Gates shoved me back down. “Stay put and behave.”
“Let someone else take the case, Nat!” I shouted after her and sank back against the wall. “Don’t drag him into this mess. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“What are you so worried about?” Gates asked.
I groaned and dropped my head between my knees. “This is worse than getting arrested. She’s gonna get me in so much trouble.”
